1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a method of fabricating the same. Some embodiments provide an LCD with an improved response time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are widely used flat panel displays. Generally, an LCD includes a pair of substrates having electric-field-generating electrodes, such as pixel and common electrodes. A liquid crystal layer is disposed between the substrates. Voltages are applied to the electric-field-generating electrodes, and the resulting electric field determines the alignment of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer, which in turn affects the transmission of polarized incident light to generate a desired image.
In a vertical alignment (VA) mode LCD, the longitudinal axes of the liquid crystal molecules are perpendicular to the substrates when no electric field is formed in the liquid crystal layer. VA mode LCDs are popular due to their high contrast ratio and wide standard viewing angle. The standard viewing angle of a VA mode LCD can be widened by using domain-forming features, such as apertures or protrusions, on electric-field-generating electrodes. Patterns (“micropatterns) of the domain-forming features partition each pixel region into multiple domains. The liquid crystal molecules are tilted at the same angle in each domain, and possibly at different angles in different domains, in accordance with the micropattern geometry.
In some VA mode LCDs, the domain-forming patterns (“micropatterns”) of apertures or protrusions are formed on both substrates. In other, “patternless” VA mode LCDs, a domain-forming pattern is formed one of the substrates but not on both. One drawback of the VA mode LCD having the domain-forming patterns on both substrates is a slow response time due to the random motion of the liquid crystal molecules located farther away from the domain-forming features. To solve this problem, studies are being conducted on narrowing the electric-field-generating electrodes of the VA mode LCD having the domain-forming patterns on both the upper and lower substrates and widening the domain-forming features. This however would result in a reduced aperture ratio. The patternless VA mode LCDs also have a slow response time due to the random motion and further have a momentary residual image due to the formation of reverse domains.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an LCD with improved response time and without a reduction in the aperture ratio or formation a momentary residual image.